Andy Mossey and Steph Whatton know how to road trip. The couple does it for a living. Mossey and Whatton are a traveling trainer team for Subaru and Leave No Trace, driving across the Eastern U.S., educating schools, camps, and the general public about Leave No Trace principles. They live year round in an Outback and spent 250 nights camping last year. “The best part of living in your car, is you have everything you need to adventure all the time,” says Mossey. “If we have a couple of hours of free time, and we’re in a spot with incredible climbing or trail running, we’re ready to go.” After a year on the road, Mossey and Whatton have dialed in their road trip gear and system. Here, they outline their favorite pieces of road trip gear.
Taxa TigerMoth ($12,900)
AM: We recently put a trailer on the Subaru. It only weighs 900 pounds, but has a queen sized bed and a pull out kitchen. There’s tons of storage room…it’s amazing. It’s designed to give you every piece of living equipment, as if you’re living in a basecamp.
Big Agnes Double Z ($110)
SW: I couldn’t do this job without that thing. Getting a good night’s sleep is crucial, and this insulated sleeping pad is more comfortable than the mattress in my last apartment.
Thule Sonic XL ($659)
AM: This roof box is our gear closet. It has a super rigid design, with tons of room for all of our climbing gear. Says Whatton, “It’s so sturdy, and unbelievably durable for all weather conditions. I don’t know what we’d do without it.”
ENO Hammock ($60)
SW: We have our ENOs with us at all times—a DoubleNest and a SingleNest. I really like the new strap system, the Helios, made from Dyneema. They’re really lightweight but also user friendly. The SingleNest is key if we want to have our own space. We’re together all the time, so sometimes that’s nice.
Camp Chef Everest Stove ($125)
AM: We’re big foodies, making food every day, twice a day. It’s a two-burner stove that’s incredibly reliable You can cook anything on this stove. Our go-to meal is vegetable stir fry, with curry rice.
Rinse Kit ($90)
This little tub of sanitation holds and pressurizes two gallons of water so you can get clean and hit the town immediately after that trail run, ride or climb.
Mazama Sidestream Hydration Pack ($39) The Sidestream provides a smooth, bounce-free run and an easy, one-handed drink motion that doesn’t interrupt your stride. Just pull the hose to your mouth and drink.
SOL Urban Survivor Kit ($80)
This grab-and-go emergency backpack filled with all the necessary essentials to survive when a disaster strikes, including water, food, survival tools, and first aid.
Yakima Streamline $199-towers, $119-crossbars
Yakima reinvented rack Streamline features towers that can adjust to most car shapes, and new cross bars that are more aerodynamic, but also stronger than their predecessors.
